Snow gate attachment for graders



March 1968 H. SCHNEIDER SNOW GATE ATTACHMENT FOR GRADERS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 29, 1965 fborneys f 0 .IT. 8 "M m w nd m 5 n Ml, H 2 m F March 19, 1968 H. SCHNEIDER SNOW GATE ATTACHMENT FOR GRADERS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 29, 1965 Invem or Heinz gclmekler E ME ZM March 19, 1968 H. SCHNEI5ER 3,373,515

SNOW GATE ATTACHMENT FOR GRADERS Filed April 29, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 March 19, 1968 H. SCHNEIDER 3,373,515

SNOW GATE ATTACHMENT FOR GRADERS Filed April 29, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Invenor Heinz Schneider Hiorneys United States Patent 3,373,515 SNOW GATE ATTACHMENT FOR GRADERS Heinz Schneider, 59 27th St. E., Prince Albert, Saskachewan, Canada Filed Apr. 29, 1965, Ser. No. 451,769 Claims priority, application Canada, Feb. 26, 1965, 24,233 8 Claims. (Cl. 37-50) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLGSURE Attachment for a material-handling blade particularly suited for use on the blade of a grader to selectively prevent discharge of material at the end of the blade during snow removal operations. The attachment is secured to the frame of the grader and is adapted to be pivoted in a vertical plane which extends in the direction of travel of the grader.

This invention relates ot snow plows and graders and more particularly to end gates for grader blades to prevent material moved by the blade from spilling from one end of the blade.

In areas having heavy snowfalls, snow banks are builtup at the edges of the road by snow plows. Each subsequent snowfall is gathered by the plow blade and pushed over the top of the bank. However, when the plow passes a space where the snow bank has been removed such as a fire hydrant location, a private driveway or a cross walk, snow is spilled from the end of the blade into such spaces due to the absence of a snow bank to retain the contents of the blade thereon. Further, snow removal efforts are therefor required to clear fire hydrant spaces and cross walks and private driveways.

Various attempts to provide a gate which would close the end of the blade as it passes a driveway entrance have not been entirely satisfactory for one reason or another. For example, cable operated gates which, dropped by gravity, were not sufliciently fast acting and, in heavy snow conditions, the snow prevented the gate from closing fully. In which case, even a small opening caused a large quantity of snow to spill from the blade.

It is a feature of the present invention to provide an end gate for a material handling blade which is provided with relatively fast, positive actuation means to open and close the gate.

It is a further feature of the present invention to provide means for increasing the storage capacity of a mold board equipped with the end gate of this invention.

A still further feature of this invention is the provision of an end gate for a material handling blade particularly suited for use on graders which allows almost full use of conventional blade controls and adjustments.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a gate attachment for a material handling blade, said gate comprising a material retaining member adjacent one end of said blade extending from adjacent the lower edge of said blade, a shaft journalled for rotation adjacent a top edge of said blade, said shaft being secured in end abutting relationship to a major surface of said material retaining member, and hydraulic means for rotating said shaft and said material retaining member in and out of operative relationship with said end of said blade.

In the drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention, FIGURE 1 is a broken side elevational view of the end gate of this invention mounted on the draw bar of a grader;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the end gate of FIG- URE 1;

3,373,515 Patented Mar. 19, 1968 FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view of the end gate of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic illustration of the hydraulic system for actuating the end gate of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the end gate of FIGURE 1, and the additional guard to increase the storage capacity of the blade and mold board;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the end gate of FIGURE 1; showing the adapter secured to the end of the material handling blade; and

FIGURE 7 is atop plan View of an alternative embodiment of the end gate.

Referring now in detail to the drawings in which an end gate indicated generally at 10 is mounted on a draw bar 11 of a grader, the draw bar 11 is generally T-shaped due to the provision of a transverse member 12. An annular member commonly referred to as the circle is provided on the underside of the draw bar 11. A conventional mold board 13 and blade 14 are suspended from the circle 15. The draw bar 11 and circle 15 are conventional elements of the grader and need not be described in detail.

A mounting frame indicated generally at 16 comprises a plate 18 secured as by welding to an end of the transverse member 12, a thrust bracket 19 having apertures therein aligned with apertures in the plate 18 is secured thereto by bolts (not shown).

A shaft 20, one end of which is received in the thrust bracket 19 extends through a tubular member 21 mounted on one end of a first frame member 23. A second frame member 24 integral with or welded to the other end of the first frame member 23 is provided with a plate 25 at its other end. A plate 26 is secured as by welding to the draw bar 11 and the end plate 25 is secured thereto by bolts (not shown) passing through aligned apertures in the plates 25 and 26.

Mounted for rotation in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the shaft is a material retaining member 30. The material retaining member 30 comprises a generally rectangular steel plate (double thickness, if required) provided with longitudinally extending re-inforcing members 32. The lower edge 33 of the member 30 as viewed in FIGURE 1 is of reduced thickness and a rounded corner 34 is provided at leading edge 35 thereof.

A cutting blade not shown may be provided along the lower edge 33 of the member 30.

A journal block 36, secured as by welding to the inner face of the member 30, at the upper corner adjacent the leading edge 35, has an aperture 37 therein to receive a bronze bushing 38, which in turn receives the other end of the shaft 20. A further journal block 39 is spaced from the block 36 by an interconnecting member 40. A pair of complimentary bearing retaining members 41 and 42 are provided on the leading face of the block 39 and the shaft 20 extends through complimentary bearing shells 43 provided therein. The spacing of the blocks 36 and 39 being such that the tubular member 21 carried by the shaft 20 is received therebetween.

A shaft end plate 46 is secured to the shaft 20 by suitable means such as machine screws (not shown).

As shown in FIGURES 2, 3 and 5, tubular steel braces 44 and 45 are secured between the block 39 and the inner face of the member 30 to reduce lateral deflection of the member 30.

When the end gate 10 is intended for use where heavy snowfalls are encountered, it is desirable to increase the storage capacity of the mold board 13 by providing a triangular guard 47 which is secured to the brace 44 so that its lower edge is adjacent the upper edge of the mold board 13.

Swinging movement is imparted to the material retaining member 30 by an hydraulic assembly indicated generally at 50 in FIGURE 2. The assembly 50 comprises a conventional hydraulic cylinder 51 and a double action piston 52. The cylinder 51 is pivotally connected to an apertured bracket 55 secured as by welding to the first frame member 23. The piston 52 is similarly connected to an apertured bracket 56 secured as by welding to the interconnecting member 40.

The pivot point of the end gate is so arranged that a movement of about 34 inches of the piston 52 will cause the material retaining member 30 to completely clear the end of the blade 14 of the grader.

The cylinder assembly 50 is installed so that when fully extended, the lower edge 33 of the member 30 is level with the cutting edge of the grader blade 14.

With reference to FIGURE 4, the hydraulic assembly 50 has oil pressure lines 60 and 61 connected thereto and to a control valve 63. An oil pressure line 64 from an hydraulic pump 65 of the grader is connected to the control valve 63 and to a relief valve 67. An oil supply line 68 and a return line 69 from the control valve 63 are also provided. However, as all the elements of the hydraulic system other than gate valve 63 and lines 60, 61 and 64 are part of the conventional hydraulic system provided on the grader, these elements need not be described in detail.

It Will be noted that some means is required to close the gap which would otherwise occur between the adjacent end of the mold board 13 and the material retaining member 30. Preferably, a substantially triangular extension 70 is bolted to the mold board 13 and blade 14.

Alternatively, as shown in FIGURE 7, the member 30 may be provided with an inwardly extending flange 75 along the trailing edge thereof, angularly disposed to cooperate with the mold board 13 and blade 14. However, this construction limits the choice of working angles of the grader blade 14.

The operation of the end gate 10 will be readily apparent from the foregoing description. Briefly, assuming the member 30 to be in its raised position indicated in dashed lines in FIGURE 1, the hydraulic assembly 50 is actuated by operating the control valve 63 to lower the member 30. Snow or other material is thus prevented from spilling from the end of the blade 14. The material so collected is then caused to be discharged by raising the member 30 when the grader has moved an appropriate distance beyond the driveway entrance, cross walk or fire hydrant space.

It will be noted that the hydraulic assembly 50 provides positive movement of the material retaining member 30 to both the raised and lowered positions. This is important, particularly when working in heavy snow conditions as the end gate 10, if lowered by gravity alone, would tend to be slow acting or leave a gap thus allowing snow to spill from the end of the blade.

The present invention is not limited to use in snow removal. Other uses include the spreading of gravel or paving material where end spill from the grader blade would be undesirable.

I claim:

1. A gate attachment for an adjustable material handling blade and mold board propelled by a vehicle, said gate comprising a frame fixedly secured to said vehicle independent of said material handling blade, a horizontal shaft mounted on said frame, a material retaining member adjacent one end of said blade and carried by said shaft, said shaft being disposed in end abutting relationship to a major surface of said material retaining member at an upper leading portion of said member, and means acting between said retaining member and said vehicle for rotating said material retaining member in and out of operative relationship with said end of said blade whereby the amount of material discharged from said end of said blade is selectively controlled by moving said material retaining member in a fixed plane relative to said frame while allowing sail material handling blade to be independently adjusted relative to said retaining member.

2. A gate attachment as claimed in claim 1 wherein said material handling member is moved into and out of operative relationship with said end of said blade by fluid operated means.

3. A gate attachment as claimed in claim 2 wherein said fluid operated means comprises an hydraulic piston cylinder assembly.

4. A gate attachment for an adjustable material handling blade and mold board propelled by a vehicle, said gate comprising a substantially rectangular material retaining member having a flat major surface adapted to cooperate with an end of said material handling blade, a shaft mounted on a frame which is fixedly secured to said vehicle and independently of said blade, said shaft being disposed in end abutting relationship to said major surface, a journal block on said major surface to receive an associated end of said shaft, and a bracket secured to said journal block and bydraulic means acting between said bracket and said frame for rotating said material retaining member into and out of operative engagement with said end of said blade whereby the amount of material discharged from said blade is selectively controlled.

5. A gate attachment as claimed in claim 4 wherein said hydraulic means is a double action piston cylinder assembly.

6. A gate attachment as claimed in claim 4 wherein said bearing block is disposed adjacent the intersection of an upper edge and a leading edge of said rectangular material retaining member.

7. A gate attachment as claimed in claim 4 wherein the height of said material retaining member is approximately twice that of said mold board.

8. A gate attachment as claimed in claim 4 wherein a guard is provided immediately above said mold board adjacent said flat major surface of said material retaining member for movement therewith to increase the ma terial retaining capacity of the mold board when the gate attachment is in use.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,763,439 9/1956 Lotz 37l43 3,055,126 9/1962 Emhof 37-42 3,148,466 9/1964 Batko 37143 X ANTONIO F. GUIDA, Primary Examiner.

ABRAHAM G. STONE, Examiner.

R. L. HOLLISTER, Assistant Examiner. 

